2. Sleep It Off

Compared with men who log seven hours of nightly shut-eye, those who sleep only six face 24 percent higher odds of obesity. Motivate yourself by treating sleep as a competition, says Men's Health sleep advisor W. Christopher Winter, M.D. Bet against a buddy on your "score" in hours.

3. Dial In Discomfort

You carry a few ounces of brown fat, which generates heat by burning other fat. Since brown fat is activated by cold and hunger, keep your home in the mid-60s and eat low-cal meals, starting with breakfast, says Philipp Scherer, Ph.D., a professor of medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

4. Cut the Chemicals

Limit your intake of the waist-widening chemicals in plastics by using glass or stainless-steel containers. And watch the food in them too. "Eating organic will reduce your exposure to known or suspected endocrine disruptors," says Bruce Blumberg, Ph.D., an obesogen expert at UC Irvine.

Monday, 10 March 2014

Celebrity trainer Lee Mullins from Bodyism tells us why energy drinks may be stopping you from achieving your goals.

Whether you’re trying to ensure you have enough energy to get through a training session or are trying to beat off the afternoon slump, reaching for your favorite energy drink may be doing more harm than good in helping to achieve your goals.

One of the biggest problems with many energy drinks is that they are full of sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Not only will these ingredients increase your risk of diabetes, they will also cause your body to release serotonin. Before a workout, serotonin is your worst enemy as it will leave you feeling tired and lacking the drive and energy to train.

Now you might be thinking that this doesn’t apply to you as your energy drink is sugar free or low carbohydrate, but these types of energy drinks can be just as bad as they’re generally full of toxic sweeteners or artificial ingredients that you can’t even pronounce. Sweeteners and artificial ingredients add to your body’s toxic load, making it harder for your body to burn fat and stay young and energetic.

Now here are my top 3 Clean & Lean alternatives to energy drinks:

1/ Organic Coffee – Coffee has been shown in numerous studies to improve drive, concentration, strength and endurance. Opt for an organic coffee to limit your toxin intake and don’t have coffee after 2pm so it doesn’t effect the quality of your sleep.

2/ Green Tea – A cup of green tea is a great alterative to coffee if you’re sensitive to coffee. It’s full of antioxidants and is a great natural energy booster.

3/ Berry Burn – Bodyism’s pre workout supplement that contains Acai berry, Green Tea and L-Carnitine. All 3 are natural energy boosters that don’t fatigue your adrenal glands as much as many energy drinks or high caffeinated drinks. It’s also low in sugar and tastes incredible.

The same rules apply to the foods we eat every day as to what we consume pre-workout. Stick to natural ingredients as much as possible and don’t consume anything that you can’t pronounce!

For any other questions about energy drinks and staying Clean & Lean, please don’t hesitate to contact Lee on Twitter @Lee_Bodyism and @CleanandLean

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Healthy eating out doesn’t have to mean a side salad, tap water and going home hungry. Nutritionist JennaZoe, author of Super Healthy Snacks and Treats and foodstolove.co.uk navigates the menus of six of our favourites. Here are the first three;

Chinese menus can be the biggest healthy eating minefield out there - most things are smothered in gloopy sauces that hide chemicals and sugar.

Grilled chicken is fine and the satay sauce is not as sinful as you'd imagine because it's made of peanuts (a rare source of choline, which prevents our livers accumulating fat) but still feels like a treat.

Sautéing is the 'cleanest' cooking method available on this menu, so go for the beef, a great protein, and pak choy: one serving contains most of your daily Vit A requirement, which encourages cell regeneration.

Consume avocados daily for a flat tum (their monounsaturated fat content is unparalleled and will keep cravings at bay). Scoop your guacamole with pork scratchings instead of corn chips - they are full of collagen and high in protein, ideal if you’re watching your carb intake.

The MSC Ceviche salad is made with responsibly sourced raw fish - I tell all my clients to choose raw protein over cooked when possible, because cooking denatures some of the protein, rendering it useless to the body. If you need to bulk up the salad, ask for the slaw - did you know cabbage is higher in Vitamin C than oranges?

Prawns are a fantastic way to get your fix of zinc - even a slight deficiency could be impacting muscle gains. This has large prawns (mini ones are generally farmed and processed) a light zingy sauce and lime.

With soba noodles you can satisfy cravings the guilt-free way. Soba is buckwheat, a gluten-free grain and a low-GI, slow-releasing carb which is alkaline-forming thanks to the high levels of manganese and magnesium (which can help you sleep). With the grilled salmon, it's perfect post-training.

Add the tangy salad, packed full of calcium and chlorophyll. Seaweeds are more nutrient-dense than greens, so don't skip them!